Over the past month, police officers from the Glilot police station conducted an investigation against a 64-year-old suspect, a resident of Kiryat Shmona, on suspicion of committing serious crimes against young children while taking advantage of his stay as an evacuee and his closeness to children - members of evacuee families who were staying with him at a hotel in Herzliya.
Police officers at the Glilot station opened an investigation on February 8, 2024 - immediately after a mother of a 4-year-old girl reported to the police hotline about suspicions of serious offenses committed by her daughter.
Immediately after initial investigative actions, the police arrested the suspect, who was staying at the same hotel, for questioning.
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Already in the early stages of the investigation, the police identified suspicions of harm to several additional children.
According to the suspicion, the suspect took advantage of his stay as an evacuee at the hotel, and while activities were taking place at the hotel for children of evacuee families who were staying with him at the hotel in Herzliya, he arrived at the activity areas and lured young children aged 3-7 to come with him to his room, where he committed serious acts against them.
As the investigation progressed, the police uncovered suspicions of a serious and prolonged pattern of abuse that the suspect committed against another child over several years - from the time he was 6 years old until he turned 15. According to the suspicion, the suspect used to commit particularly serious acts against him while the child and his father were staying at the suspect's home.
The suspect's detention was extended from time to time at the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court for the purposes of a sensitive and complex investigation carried out by investigators, in cooperation with social welfare authorities, and using a variety of investigative methods, including interrogations, collecting photographic and video evidence, and using child investigators and a special investigator.
As the investigation matured, a prosecutor's statement was filed against the suspect at the end of last week - and today the Tel Aviv District Attorney's Office is expected to file a serious indictment against him, for particularly serious offenses.
